What's the best college in the country? It's not Harvard, Princeton or Yale -- it's the University of California-San Diego, according to rankings released today by Washington Monthly.

The rankings are timely because the magazine's college rankings aren't based on reputation -- they're based on schools' performance in recruiting and graduating low-income students, conducting cutting-edge research and producing PhDs, and encouraging students to perform public service.

The publication's criteria are similar, but not identical, to President Barack Obama's plan to rate colleges on performance. Last week Obama proposed tying the amount of federal aid colleges get to these ratings.

Based on Washington Monthly's criteria, three University of California schools are among the nation's top five colleges: San Diego, Riverside and Berkeley. Texas A&M is No. 3, and Case Western Reserve University is No. 4.

Texas A&M also is in the top five when it comes to "best bang for the buck" among national universities. The University of Florida is No. 1 in this category, followed by the University of Georgia, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.

The magazine also produced separate rankings for liberal arts colleges and community colleges. Bryn Mawr ranked No. 1 for liberal arts colleges, and Saint Paul College in Minnesota was the top-ranked community college, followed by North Florida Community College.

"Our rankings aim to identify institutions that are acting on behalf of the true public interest," the magazine's editors write.

Kevin Carey, director of the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program, guest-edited the magazine's college guide this year. He said its rankings focus "on the measures that actually matter."

So how does Harvard, which consistently ranks No. 1 on U.S. News and World Report's college rankings, fare on Washington Monthly's rankings? It was No. 8, just behind the University of Texas-El Paso. Princeton, which tied Harvard for No. 1 in U.S. News' most recent ranking, was only No. 31 in Washington Monthly's ranking. Yale, which was No. 3 on the U.S. News rankings, was way down at No. 54 in Washington Monthly's list.

Crazy, huh? Depends on what you're looking for out of colleges.

Washington Monthly's editors write that its guide "asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country."